Optical interface modules are used in communication equipment for converting optical signals into electrical signals and vice versa. Some optical interface modules comprise components such as Photo-Detectors (PDs) and Trans-Impedance Amplifiers (TIAs) for optical reception, drivers and Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) for optical transmission, high-speed electrical connectors, as well as light coupling optics for coupling light to and from optical fibers that are connected to the optical interface module.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,049,704, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a package allowing both electrical and optical coupling between one or more integrated circuits and a printed circuit board (PCB). The package has an optical waveguide structure in addition to electrical connections. An optically active device is flip-chip bonded directly to an integrated circuit using solder bump technology. The optically active device has a lens directly attached to it to facilitate optical coupling to the optical waveguide. The integrated circuit is flip-chip bonded to a Ball Grid Array (BGA) package. The BGA package is bonded to the PCB using solder reflow technology.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2012/0051685, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a technique in which a flip-chip assembly manufacturing process is augmented by process steps to create a VCSEL flip-chip assembly comprising a plurality of semiconductor devices having respective arrays of a small number of VCSELs thereon, which are mounted on a substrate to form a large array of VCSELs that are precisely optically aligned with their respective optical coupling elements.